Panthers GM Dale Tallon giving up on David Booth is perhaps the most intriguing part of this deal. He’s 26 years-old with a potentially bright future ahead of him. He hasn’t been the same player he was looking like he was becoming since suffering a major concussion at the hands of Mike Richards two years ago, but Tallon was looking to shake things up and give Booth a chance to find his game again in a new place.

Shaking things up after just six games? All right then.

If Tallon is seeing an issue with his team and Booth was part of that, moving him now while his stock is still high is a good move. What he got in return, however is strange. With Sturm and Samuelsson he’s got two guys having bad starts to their year but their contracts are off the books after this season.

Getting Booth to team up with former Team USA linemate Ryan Kesler and to get their own third round pick back make sense. Getting that pick back also means Vancouver can dip into the restricted free agent market next summer.

The potential catch here is if Booth doesn’t get back to his old form as a 30-goal scorer again. They’ve got Booth for the next four years at $4.25 million against the cap. If he’s not producing, that contract is a grizzly bear to deal with. It’s exciting for Vancouver, however, as seeing Booth riding on a line with Kesler and Chris Higgins (USA! USA! USA!) is more exciting than seeing Sturm there with Samuelsson. A good team getting better? Vancouver makes it look easy.